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The unresolved question on COVID-19 virus origin: The three cards game?

Alessandra BorsettiFabio ScarpaAntonello MarouttiFabio DivinoGiancarlo CeccarelliMarta GiovanettiMassimo Ciccozzi
Published in: Journal of medical virology (2021)
The ongoing discussion about the real origin of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) feeds acrimonious debates. Where did SARS-CoV-2 come from? Was SARS-CoV-2 transmitted in the wild from an animal to a person before exploding in Wuhan or was it an engineered virus that escaped from research or a laboratory in Wuhan? Right now, we still don't know enough whether SARS-CoV-2 is human-made or not, and lab-leak theories remain essentially speculative. Many recent studies have pointed out several plausible scenarios. Anyhow, currently, even if suspicions by some about the possibility of lab-leak hypothesis still remain, the consensus view is that the pandemic probably started from a natural source and, to determine the real origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, further research is needed.
Keyphrases
  • sars cov
  • respiratory syndrome coronavirus
  • coronavirus disease
  • endothelial cells
  • climate change